Nice video below on the “downstream” folks of America’s oil and natural gas industry – the people who run refineries and deliver petroleum products across the U.S.:

As the video says, these highly trained workers are the heart of the oil and natural gas industry.

They work in refineries, which support 540,000 good-paying jobs and contribute $268 billion to U.S. GDP, making fuels that literally run our economy and make modern mobility an afterthought for most of us.

They produce the feed stocks for countless petroleum-based products – from chemicals and clothing to plastics and fertilizers – that make all our lives easier and healthier, every day.

They operate 170,000 miles of secure pipeline to transport products to each corner of the country.

They keep America moving.

The governor of Nebraska’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline’s route through his state has some opponents conjuring up old arguments and false choices in an attempt to gain traction against a project that could help create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, stimulate economic activity and help make America more energy secure.
For example, Sen. Barbara Boxer’s claim that the Keystone XL would negate the carbon benefits of the administration’s vehicle tailpipe emissions rules basically asserts that Americans can choose between secure energy from Canada or the climate.

A couple of points. First, this underscores that for many the main issue is the importing of Canadian oil sands crude and not the Keystone XL itself – because the State Department concluded nearly two years ago that:

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The decision by Nebraska’s governor to OK a new route through his state for the Keystone XL pipeline is based on a factual assessment of the project’s safety, as well as the economic benefits that would accrue. Fuel Fix.com has news coverage here. In a notification letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gov. Dave Heineman wrote that his state’s Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) found:

• Construction and operation of Keystone XL, with builder TransCanada’s commitments to safety, “would have minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska.” NDEQ said the new Keystone XL route avoids the sensitive Sand Hills as well as fragile soils in the northern part of the state.
• The pipeline’s construction would bring to the state more than $418 million in economic... more »

Eighteen oil and natural gas companies had reported their third quarter 2009 earnings as of yesterday afternoon, and the results have been a mixed bag. Companies that focus on oil and natural gas production--also called the upstream sector of the business--experienced a better financial quarter than large integrated companies that have both upstream and downstream operations--refining and marketing. The companies that fared worst are in the downstream portion of the business, and some of them actually lost money.

The chart below puts the companies' earnings in perspective.

At this writing, the oil and natural gas industry in the third quarter of 2009 is averaging earnings of 5.8 cents per dollar of sales. That's far below the Dow Jones Industrial companies, which are averaging 9.7 cents o... more »